Thursday, 22 October 2015

UK Blog Tour: The Twelve Dates of Christmas by Lisa Dickenson‏!

Publication date: 22nd October 2015Paperback edition: 384 pages

Source: Paperback

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis: At thirty, Claudia's life is stale and the romance with long-term boyfriend, Seth, has disappeared. Determined to inject some festive spark back into their love life, Claudia and Seth go on their first date in a very long time. But when the night ends in disaster, Claudia suddenly finds herself facing life - and Christmas - alone.

Life alone is exciting, scary and full of soon-forgotten exercise regimes and ill-advised attempts at crafting sexy underwear. It's also filling up with dates, surprisingly. With best friends Penny and Nick at her side, a surplus of festive markets, mulled wine and Christmas tunes, Claudia attempts to face all this change with gusto. One thing's for certain: this year, Christmas is going to be very different . . .

This is the story of Claudia and her twelve dates of Christmas. Hilarious, uplifting and romantic, it's a story about losing love, finding love, and discovering what's been there all along. Expect Christmas sparkle, butterflies-in-your-stomach romance and a lot of very funny moments in The Twelve Dates of Christmas.

I'll be honest and say that I hadn't heard of this book until the UK publisher emailed me and asked me if I would like to review it and be on the UK Blog Tour! I was a little hesitant at first because this book didn't sound like my typical kind of read and I don't think that I've actually read a Christmas book before lol, but I said yes pretty quickly to reviewing it! I'm so happy I did say yes because I enjoyed this book! I loved the way it was set out too! It was told in twelve different stages as the main character went on twelve different dates! It was very interesting and it didn't have a load of unnecessary scenes in it, which made it flow really well! The plot also held my interest and only took my like three sittings to get through! I loved it and it's actually made me want to take more of a chance on Christmas books, because as I said, I don't think I've read a Christmas book before until this one lol! also loved the ending to this book! The characters were also awesome! Claudia was the main character, and she was a very humorous and lovely character! I loved how funny she was! She was funny in awkward and embarrassing situations, and this made it easy for me to connect with her! She was a straight talker too and she stood up for herself! She also had such bad luck with love, but I could see that it was the one thing she really wanted in life! Claudia wanted to find Prince Charming and live happily ever after with him, and her Prince Charming was right beside her the full time in this book, but this book was about Claudia realising this and admitting her real feelings for him! I would say that Nick was the main love interest of Claudia in this book, even though there were a few other guys in the mix as Claudia went out on a few dates with other guys! Nick had always been there for Claudia and he was one of her closest friends! I could also see that Nick really liked Claudia, but he wasn't sure how to handle his feelings for her! Nick was also seriously cute lol, and I loved the way he was with Claudia! He was protective of her, but he tried to give her space for herself! There was a bit in this book where I lost some respect for Nick, but then I found out what really happened and it all made sense lol! I love Nick and he made a good couple with Claudia! I can completely understand why this book is a standalone! Everything in the plot was resolved and the ending was also perfect and Claudia got what she always wanted and found her Prince Charming! I also can't wait to check out this author's other series' and give them a read too! I hope the main characters are similar to Claudia lol! The UK cover for this book suits is so well! It maybe wouldn't make me pick the book up if I saw it in a book shop or something like that, because it isn't my typical kind of read, but I really like it! Big thank you to Sphere for an early copy of The Twelve Dates of Christmas for review and for having me on the UK Blog Tour!

Lisa Dickenson was born in the wrong body. She was definitely meant to be Beyoncé. Despite this hardship, she grew up in Devon attempting to write her own, completely copyright-infringing versions of Sweet Valley High, before giving Wales a go for university, and then London a go for the celeb-spotting potential. She's now back in Devon, living beside the seaside with her husband and forcing cream teas down the mouths of anyone who'll visit. She is sadly still not Beyoncé. The Twelve Dates of Christmas is Lisa's first novel. Follow her on Twitter for all her book news and Beyoncé-related chatter: @LisaWritesStuff.